Making Contact: A Look At The World’s Biggest UFO Convention – “Whatever your conspiracy, it’s served there. Some of it even had a slice (paper-thin) of science. The links between psychedelic drugs, consciousness, the invention of language, art, and human evolution, simulation theory, genealogy, the potential of CRISPR genome editing?—?were all explored with an alien twist. Most often, it was the “ancient” variety made popular on the History Channel show, “Ancient Aliens.” Groupies queued for a glimpse of the stars of the show, Erich von Däniken, Giorgio Tsoukalos, writers like Whitley Strieber, who penned the Communion series, and AM radio host George Noory, extraterrestrial high priests come to preach and hawk their wares.”

Mistrust after Tuskegee experiments may have taken years off black men’s lives – “This is the first study to quantify the health impacts of Tuskegee, multiple researchers said. Other groups have studied other aspects of its aftermath — the Tuskegee Legacy Project, for instance, examined how knowledge of the experiments impacted individuals’ willingness to participate in research in the present day.”

The Complete Calendar Plug-In of the World’s Fictional Holidays – “Anyone can tell you about how many shopping days there are until Christmas, or what costume they’re planning for Halloween, but how many people know when First Contact Day is, or what day of the week the Wookiee Life Day falls on?” On that note, happy Summerween!

Cancer patients get a rare chance to thank their transplant donors – ” ‘Dear Bone Marrow Donor,’ wrote the patient before heading into a transplant, ‘… this is my only chance to be cured.’ The patient, Dr. Gayle Winters, didn’t sign her name: That was against the rules. She pasted her message into a glittering gold thank you card, dropped it off at her doctor’s office — and sent it through an unusual, anonymized postal system that connects grateful patients with their stem cell donors from around the world.”

Don’t tell me not to wear a NASA jumpsuit, I’ll wear whatever I want – “Lately, it seems a certain type of reporter is clutching his pearls about the emergence of NASA jumpsuits as fashion items. In the case of ArsTechnica’s Eric Berger, this freak-out was precipitated by the appearance of a jumpsuit in TeenVogue. For Vinay Menon, writing in the TorontoStar, it’s model Cara Delevingne wearing a jumpsuit in an Instagram shot. How dare you, they whine. Don’t you know you’re not going to space?” From Amy.

‘The Plight of Conservative Feminists’ Is Bullshit – “It actually isn’t as simple as feminism = doin’ what you want. I’m not a feminist because I believe in my right to eat a sandwich for two different meals. I am a feminist because I believe that every woman should get to control their lives and bodies, and because I recognize that that we currently don’t have that unchecked control. That’s why it was so baffling to see an article entitled ‘The Plight of Conservative Feminists,’ in TheAtlantic Tuesday morning, that discussed Fiorina’s shaky feminism—which has somehow cornered her into the position of not not supporting festering Build-A-Bear Donald Trump.”

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The Skepchick Network is a collection of smart and often sarcastic blogs focused on science and critical thinking. The original site is Skepchick.org, founded by Rebecca Watson in 2005 to discuss women’s issues from a skeptical standpoint.